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v 

TEPEE AND WIGWAM 

IN PICTURE STRIP 

By 

ELEANOR FISH 

// 

with drawings by 

Wally Dubois Richards 



THOMAS S. ROCKWELL COMPANY 

CHICAGO, 1931 








Copyright, 1931, by 

THOMAS S. ROCKWELL COMPANY 

CHICAGO 


Printed in the United States of A merp 

AUG -3 1931 


40606 


PZi 

F52 L> 


TEPEE AND WIGWAM 




An Iroquois Lad Who Did Not Fear 


Ka-Ha-Gan and his 
friends dashed out of the 
stockade, playing run- 
and-touch tag. In the corn 
garden they ate lunch- 
dried deer meat, corn bread, 
and wild cherries. 


Worker-in-Stone was 
chipping out flint blades 
and arrowheads. To hear 
his legend they stopped be¬ 
side the women weaving 
bags and braiding straps of 
twisted fiber. 


“Let us be warriors. Let 
us also attack the Erie.” 
They had wandered far 
when night fell. The oak 
leaves whispered; the pines 
rustled; a whip-poor-will 
called in the darkness. 













the Night, Dwelt Near Lake Erie 


They feared Walkers-in- 
Darkness. Then Light- 
Thrower, a star with a tail, 
crossed the sky. No one 
moved. Finally Ka-Ha- 
Gan began to make a fire 
with his pump-drill. 


Seeing the fire, some re¬ 
turning hunters found the 
boys. All praised Ka-Ha- 
Gan. In the wigwam his 
mother worked a design of 
wampum on his moccasin: 
“Young brave one.” 


Best honor of all, he was 
taken to the next Council 
Fire of the Great League. 
There his grandmother 
chose a new chief. There 
also he saw the False-Face 
Dance around the fire. 








The Natchez, Indians Raised Maiz;e 


The war-feast of the Nat¬ 
chez was always begun 
with dog meat. The war¬ 
riors walked from dish to 
dish, eating coarse meal 
cooked in fat broth and 
roasted or boiled deer meat. 


The oldest warrior filled 
the red clay pipe with to¬ 
bacco. After each man had 
smoked in turn, the pipe 
was buried at the end of 
the village square. Then 
the fighters departed. 


Sees-Far-Off, the great 
chief, left his wooden 
throne, put his fine bison 
robe and feather crown in 
the ceremonial chamber, 
and went to visit his 
little grandson. 


















in the Mississippi Valley 


He found little Short-Hair 
lying on a bearskin near 
the hickory wood fire in 
his mother's hut. He was 
playing with the bark 
cords that strapped him to 
the cane cradle. 


When Short-Hair's age 
stick had six notches in it, 
he sat on the platform at 
the edge of the garden and 
drove away the crows from 
the squash, beans, and 
pumpkins planted there. 


At the Maize Festival in 
midsummer, Short - Hair 
watched the dances and 
saw Medicine-Maker build 
a new sacred fire, but he 
liked best of all to see the 
game of lacrosse. 



















Near the Shores of Lake Superior 


The forest was Na-Wa- 
Kwa’s playground. He 
learned to make canoes out 
of the white bark of the 
birch tree, and to dip his 
paddle softly, without 
even rippling the water. 


The forest was Na-Wa- 
Kwa's story-book. Glid¬ 
ing silently through the 
pines, he came upon the 
beaver builder c u 11 i ng 
down a tree with his 
strong white teeth. 


Na-Wa-Kwas father re¬ 
turned with caribou from 
the fall hunt. His mother 
used the skins to line the 
new wigwam and to make 
warm clothes before the 
land grew cold. 





















an Ojibwa Lad Used to Play 


Wee-One gurgled at his 
new horn rattle. Na-Wa- 
Kwa smacked his lips over 
the stew of wild rice, 
onions, dried corn, and fish 
—his new horn spoon made 
it taste good. 


His puppies liked dried 
deer meat. The leaves of 
the sugar maple had al¬ 
ready turned red. Na-Wa- 
Kwa looked at the gray 
sky and said, “Soon white 
feathers will fall/' 


White feathers of snow 
covered the forest. The 
boys made snowshoes. 
Swift as a deer they sped 
over the frozen ground. 
“Hey-ay-ho,” they called 
to each other. 





















Talhand'Strong Grew from a 


The prairie twilight echoed 
with shouts of the Crow 
lads. Tall-and-Strong and 
his companions caught 
moths and rubbed them 
on their breasts to become 
fleet of foot. 


They played hobby-horse 
and raced, but their favor- 
ite game was magpie. 
They smeared charcoal on 
their faces and then slyly 
stole buffalo meat from the 
stone-boilers. 


At seventeen Tall-and- 
Strong earned a pony and 
rode far from the tepees. 
Wearing the feathers of 
the chicken-hawk, he 
joined the men in the buf¬ 
falo hunt. 

























Carefree Boy into a Brave Chief 


Medicine-Man sang to the 
god, Thunder-Bird. But 
Tall-and-Strong listened 
only to Mighty-One, who 
told brave tales and placed 
a log on the fire as each 
one ended. 


Tall-and-Strong returned 
from the cliff over Big 
Muddy River where he 
had prayed to Thunder- 
Bird. He was weak from 
fasting but sang, '1 walk 
with a strong heart/' 


At last Tall-and-Strong 
won enough honors to 
wear the eagle bonnet. He 
led the Wolf Clan to war. 
Pictures on Crow tepees 
and blankets told of his 
brave deeds. 















Kina, a Zuni Girl, 


Kina dropped her yellow 
gourd and blinked at the 
thick-starred desert sky. 
Mother Zuta, squatting 
beside the cradle board, 
sang to Moon to protect 
her baby. 


Before Prayer Festival, 
Kina painted feathered 
prayer sticks purple, yel¬ 
low, red, and blue. At the 
Corn Ceremony she 
planted seed and danced to 
the Rain God. 


When five summers passed, 
Kina's black hair was held 
up with a belt of blue and 
white. Zuta wove her 
daughter a shawl, green 
like the sagebrush and red 
like the desert rocks. 





































Grows Up and Is Married 


Kina wanted to play bear- 
at-the-spring, but she had 
to stay on the roof of the 
pueblo to watch the bread 
baking in the mud oven 
while Zuta ground more 
corn into meal. 


To mold pottery beads 
was Kina's delight. She 
made water jars blue as the 
wings of the jay, and drew 
on them circle patterns or 
pictures of rabbits, lizards, 
and eagles. 


After Kina's lover had 
spoken to her four times at 
the well at twilight, she 
carried cornmeal to his 
mother, and then he came 
to live in the pueblo with 
Kina and Zuta. 








































Over the Western Plateaus 


Hawk-Eyes, a young Ute 
hunter, stood on a rock in 
the Garden of the Gods. 
His skin robe dropped to 
his side. He sniffed the 
scent of the deer on the 
spring breeze. 


Hiding between a quaking 
aspen and a boulder, he 
waited long and patiently 
for the deer to come to the 
spring to drink. His bow 
of mountain - sheep horn 
was ready. 


Whiz! The feathered ar¬ 
row shot true to the heart 
of the huge buck as he 
lowered his head over the 
pool to drink. Hawk- 
Eyes carried the animal to 
camp on his shoulders. 














the Ute Tribes Wandered 


Morning-Dew rejoiced 
when she saw the deer. 
Now they wo.uld have 
food and new skin robes. 
For two months past they 
had been living on insects 
and snakes. 


The Ute tepees were called 
“bad lodges/' because they 
were so poorly made. But 
Hawk-Eyes' people would 
rather wander and hunt 
for food than live in fine, 
well-built villages. 


Before wandering again, 
they welcomed spring by 
a great Bear Dance. Hawk- 
Eyes and others, dressed 
as bears, followed the 
hunters around and 
around a circle. 








In the Far, Cold Northland 


During the short summer 
Nakak’s father moved their 
camp. A young man, in a 
kayak, or narrow boat, 
paddled ahead to guide 
them safely between shift¬ 
ing ice floes. 


Seals were plentiful near 
the new home. One day 
Nakak was taken on the 
dog sled. He watched his 
father scrape the ice from 
the runners and lash on 
the harpoon. 


The seven dogs pulled at 
their straps. Nakak called 
to his mother who stood 
at the entrance to their 
snow house, “We'll bring 
you some seal blubber for 
your lamp." 

























the Eskimo Hunts the Seal 


Even a slight noise would 
frighten the seals, so Na- 
kak was left at the sled. 
Motionless beside a hole in 
the ice, his father waited 
for a seal to come up for 
a breath of air. 


A black head appeared, 
and the man drove his 
harpoon into it. Nakak, 
running nearer to watch, 
stumbled and fell into the 
water. The huge dog, 
Waki, pulled him out. 


The Eskimos petted Waki 
for saving Nakak from the 
Sea Goddess. Wrapped in 
skins the boy ate hot cari¬ 
bou stew, while his father 
gave each neighbor a share 
of the seal. 


























A Columbia River Indian Carved 


Golden-Eagle was to visit 
the Chinooks. Child-of- 
Bird-Woman reread the 
legend of her father's fam¬ 
ily on their totem pole. 
‘The chief will know our 
fame," she said. 


For the coming feast Bird- 
Woman prepared seaweed, 
crabapples, and berries. 
She fried roots in fish oil, 
and then boiled pieces of 
seal and bear meat until 
she had much food ready. 


Child-of-Bird-Woman re¬ 
turned from the river bank 
with more roots. In her 
bark robe she looked like 
a slender tree. Her feet 
were always bare; she never 
wore moccasins. 














































a Story on His Totem Pole 


Her father, Having-Many- 
Blankets, bought a new 
name, and carved its story 
on their totem pole. He de¬ 
cided to give away all his 
possessions at a feast, to 
which all would be asked. 


Golden-Eagle arrived. He 
came down the Columbia 
in a ceremonial war canoe, 
paddled by twenty slaves. 
Ask-For-More led the Chi¬ 
nooks to the shore to greet 
Golden-Eagle. 


Ask-For-More, as he was 
now called, wished to 
prove himself richer than 
Golden-Eagle. For the 
giving-feast he spread out 
blankets, clubs, baskets, 
seal-skins, and harpoons. 






















In California MindSfaTlo Wandered 


The Hupa tribe had moved 
camp to a hillside at the 
edge of the forest. Min- 
Na-Ho and his mother 
built their new house by 
covering rough poles with 
brush matting. 


Min-Na-Ho's bare feet 
were tired from the long 
trail. In winter he wore 
moccasins and a skin robe. 
He also had a woven rab¬ 
bit-skin blanket to wrap 
up in for warmth. 


In the fall all of the women 
went to the forest to gather 
acorns under the tall oaks. 
They walked back to camp, 
balancing the full baskets 
on their heads. The little 
children went, too. 














with His People, the Hupas 


The acorns were made into 
mush. They were pounded 
on a flat rock. The fine 
flour was poured into a 
basket of water and hot 
stones put in until the 
mixture boiled. 


The Hupas had no pottery 
but made the most beauti¬ 
ful baskets in America. 
Some were decorated with 
beads. Water baskets had 
to be woven carefully of 
very fine grasses. 


Min-Na-Ho made a balsa, 
or raft, of tule rushes and 
kept it on a platform his 
father had built outside the 
hut. In the spring, when 
they moved again, he 
would use it. 
















Bird'Feathers Lived in 


When Bird-Feathers was 
seven, Man - Who - Sells 
took him to the market 
place and the blue inlaid 
palace of Montezuma, 
shining in the bright light 
of the sun. 


Montezuma's warriors 
made a splendid proces¬ 
sion. The captains wore 
long lip - ornaments, 
leather earrings, quetzal 
bird headdresses, and ar¬ 
mor of gold and silver. 


He saw the tribal council 
where wise men spoke. 
Conquered peoples sent 
their taxes here--plates of 
gold and amber, necklaces, 
cocoa, and even snakes and 
scorpions. 


























Mexico City, Long, Long Ago 


Bird-Feathers took home a 
silver flute, a turquoise 
butterfly, and a gold liz¬ 
ard to Shy-One, his sister, 
who had to stay home to 
weave, spin, bake, and help 
to take care of the baby. 


Then, so the boy would 
grow tall and fearless, he 
was sent to fish in the 
mountain streams, to bring 
wood from the mountains, 
to plant maize, and to use 
his bow and arrow. 


At fifteen Bird-Feathers 
went to live at the home of 
the priest, who taught him 
to build the sacred fire, to 
tell all the old Aztec leg¬ 
ends, and to write by 
drawing pictures. 






























The Mayas Began the New Year 


Above the trees of the 
jungle rose the great pyra¬ 
mid of Chichen Itza. Of 
all the old, old Indian cities 
this was the most beautiful 
and the most wonderful. 
It was in Yucatan. 


Texcil, the stone-cutter, 
stood in the public square 
to read the legend of the 
feathered serpent on the 
black basalt palace. He 
was to carve the image 
of this god. 


Sitting on the paved street, 
watching his father, was 
T i c a, the jade-worker. 
The jade ornament in 
Tica's hand was to be of¬ 
fered to the Sun-God at the 
New Year. 
































with Many Festivals 


On the first day of the New 
Year all houses were 
cleaned. Tica s mother re¬ 
painted her copper bowls, 
but she did not cover the 
curious carving, a prayer 
to the East-God. 


Incense burners were set on 
the east stairway, the 
north stairway, and the 
south stairway of the great 
temple. All bad wishes 
of the old year rose in 
smoke, the people thought. 


In temple, palace, terraced 
home of nobleman, and in 
thatched hut of slave, the 
fires were put out and relit 
on that day, and a picture 
was added to the stone 
monument in the square. 








































































































